I asked this type of question a few months back.

In the end, we opted to stay with a 3-drawer stack. My current dishes would fit fine in a 4-drawer stack, but if we were to change plates (which we are doing after having my Pfaltzgraff for 20-ish years), it might be an issue. My Pfatzgraff plates are rather flat, but some of the plates I've looked at have more of an upward slope. So, we stuck with the 3-drawer. Also, it turned out that I preferred the look of the 3-drawer unit where it was located...the 4-drawer mock up looked "busy" and we were trying to keep clean lines through the kitchen. For some reason, I've found that a 4-drawer unit looks "better" to me when it's a narrower cabinet (24" or less). Our dish drawer is 36" and I just didn't like the look of it as a 4-drawer. So, my decision was made partially on aesthetics.

Having said that, you could go to a 4-drawer and even if your plates are going to stack higher, you could have the plates in 2 separate stacks and use a 2nd drawer if needed.

I currently have a 3 stack but will soon have a 3.5 stack.
My 10 inch drawer is being divided to deal with the weight factor.
I will have a smaller pull out inside the drawer - so I will have full width
The lower part will have the drawer front and handle - so it will look like a 3 stack
I am thinking of swapping some items and putting my serving dishes in the top part.
Stay tuned on this option.

I'm keeping everyday dishes in a 8" drawer and a serving for 8 has plenty of room. I have large plates, small plates, soup bowls and cereal bowls in a 24" cabinet.

I think it would depend a lot on your dishes. Mine are china, so are not as thick as some sets.

I just measured the inside of my newly-installed drawers. The dish drawer is 10-1/2" from the inside bottom of the drawer to the bottom of the drawer above it. A stack of 10 dinner plates is only 6" and they have a fair amount of "lip". 10 large soup bowls are the same height. I've attached a picture. The drawer is 35" with an Interior useable width of 31".

Thanks, this is so helpful.

I have my dishes in a 3-drawer stack and I am doing a 4-drawer stack in my new kitchen. I have too much wasted space above my dishes in the 3-drawer stack. I am doing more 4-drawer stacks all over my new kitchen, actually...

hbr - I agree on the wasted space. Mine is actually a 12 inch drawer but you lose about 2 inches in space. I stack 12 dishes and it is no where close to the top - hoping my inset will be helpful.